Abstract Between 1980 and 1985, the French economy and industry faced a dramatic crisis; in the ten years that followed, it witnessed a remarkable revival. How did the French economy make this transition? While the state is still an important economic agent in France, and the market certainly has become more central in the organization of the French economy, both state- and market-centred perspectives fail to understand critical elements of this adjustment. Building on the new Varieties of Capitalism approach in political economy, which puts firms at the centre of the analysis, this book argues that the post-war, state-led system changed into a system organized by and around the large firms. Large firms have always been central in the French post-war economic development model. In the past, however, they adapted to patterns set by the central state. By exploiting the possibilities in government policies in different areas such as finance, labour relations, and regional policies, the large firms were able to induce their main interlocutors — the state, banks, labour unions, workers, and small firms — to adjust in a way that was congruent with their own interests. From subservient economic agents, they became the drivers of economic adjustment. Through this case study of readjustment in France, this book offers a critique of neo-institutionalist perspectives on firms. By analysing how large firms in France changed their institutional environment to fit their own needs, this book offers a perspective on the political economy of industrial and economic change.
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